Sony Next Generation Portable console ready to rock

Want to get some portable gaming time under your belt? You can do so with a fair number of devices which are in the market already, among them the iPod touch, iPhone even, the Nintendo DSi as well as the Sony PSP.

Well, to make sure that Sony has got your back covered with the latest and greatest, the company has just announced their latest addition to the mobile gaming scene – the Next Generation Portable. For folks who staked their house on the name PSP2 being the successor to the hugely popular PSP, you’re out of luck, although we do admit that Next Generation Portable (NGP) sounds a whole lot lamer.

No, you cannot just rush out to the store to pick a NGP for yourself simply because it will not arrive in the markets at least until the end of this year, making us more or less sure that this will be one of the hot ticket items when Christmas rolls around this year. Parents, you have been forewarned, so make sure you have a healthy cashflow to keep your little ones happy as they bug you incessantly for the NGP.

NGP was specially designed to deliver an unparalleled interactive entertainment experience, although this will not sport a 3D display that is set to debut with Nintendo’s upcoming 3DS. Hardware specifications include Wi-Fi and 3G network connectivity, and when either one works in tandem with a range of applications, NGP will be able to let you experience infinite possibilities to “encounter,” “connect,” “discover,” “share” and “play” with friends wherever they are.

As for its display, your eyes will definitely appreciate the beautiful multi-touch 5-inch organic light emitting display (OLED) at the front, and when combined with a high-performance CPU/GPU, you can be sure that the visual feast served is second to none. Apart from that, there will also be a unique multi-touch pad on the rear, letting you interact directly with games in 3D-like motion via “touch, grab, trace, push and pull” moves of the fingers.

UMDs are also a thing of the past, where small flash memory cards (Nintendo DS, anyone?) are used instead to store and carry all your games. How much are you willing to fork out for one of these when it is available?